The ticketing industry has many unscrupulous characters in its midst. The fact that artists and official ticket agencies release tickets so far in advance of the event, has given rise to secondary ticket selling model which is lawful and legitimate however unregulated. Increasingly we are seeing fake artist/event sites attempting to pass themselves off as the official site/reseller. Often by time the authorities get involved the site has disappeared and the money gone.
We have put some guidelines together to help you discover if a seller is legitimate and tips to avoid future scams.
Tips for avoiding ticket scammers
- Just because a website contains the name of the act you want to see, doesn’t make it a legitimate ticket source. Remember anyone can buy a domain name.
- A phone number can be a good indicator for people who are serious about customer service, try it if you are unsure ask questions, how many do they have available? When can they deliver? What guarantees do they offer?
- How long has the company been in business? Is there info on the about us/contact us page?
- How many pages of the website are listed on Google? Try searching with the following query (enter your website in place of ours), this gives you and idea of how long they have been around lots of pages indicates that the website wasn’t created overnight. site:http://www.goseethem.com
- Take a look at the payment types offered. If the company only offers Paypal as a payment method then its less likely that they are in serious business, after all credit card processing costs and is likely to be offered by companies that sell significant volumes of tickets. It is more of a long term business cost.
What to do if you feel you have been scammed?
If you are 100% certain ring your bank or credit card company it maybe that the payment has yet to be processed and can be recovered. Banks and Credit card companies do offer protection against fraud. Please let us know which sites you suspect, we will publish a list of these sites to help others. info@goseethem.com
If you are not quite sure take a look at the following checks it might give you a better idea.
Company Check
Check the website for a company name ending with “Limited” or “Ltd” they may also include a company number which is unique, if its a UK company this should be clearly stated either in the footer of the website, or on a company information page such as the contact us or about us pages. All limited companies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are registered at Companies House. Try entering the company name or number on their website to search the database. If you find a listing for the company then this gives a good indication that your ticket source is real. Search Google for contact details often it will list them if available.
Google check
Try a couple of searches on Google for the site name you are looking for. Add in words such as “ripped off, scam, fake, dodgy, scammers”. The results may give you an idea of what other customers have thought of the website.
The Who:IS check
The domain name of a website is often a good indictor to the identity of its owner. Some websites can and do opt out but a long term ticket agency is likely to have the company name listed here, or personal details of someone to contact. This site is simple to use whois.sc, often you can gain contact details which are not available on the website.
Ebay Tickets
If you suspect you have been ripped off on Ebay, stay calm, start by politely messaging the seller from the ebay interface asking them for an update on your ticket order. Give 24 hours then follow up with another. If there is little, none or an unsatisfactory responses, we would suggest you get in touch with the ebay support.
Its important to understand the way ticket touts work, some will sell a specific ticket they are in ownership of, usually there is no problem with this. Often they will sell tickets to you in advance as they have a source who can provide tickets closer to the event, these may be front row tickets or other good seats, problem can occur if their allocation is reduced. Before buying you should study the seating area on offer and look for clear indication of what the ticket is. Phrases in the item description like “tickets in hand” or “tickets in possession” will give you an idea of what type of seller you are dealing with. Before purchasing always check the feedback of the seller, ebay provide this to help you make an informed decision. Over 100 positive feedback is generally a good marker for a reliable seller.
If you feel that it is too close to the event and suspect you won’t receive the tickets, Ebay/Paypal may intervene for you, they will need to understand the immediacy of the situation, they should mediate and get you a refund if they deem it necessary, they control the payment system after all. If the seller has removed the money from Paypal it may be a different story.
Buying tickets from Ebay is not something this site recommends, we compare thousand of events many at reasonable prices from trusted sources. Don’t take the risk.
Remember if the prices is too good to be true, it most probably is. All ticket suppliers on GoSeeThem.com are individually checked, vetted to the highest standard, all are legitimate operators in the primary and secondary ticket market. You may find some prices too high but they are real companies with real tickets.
